Can eating curry every day really prevent men from balding?

by Danny Kichi on Mon, Jul 18, 2016

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In case any more convincing were necessary, a bold claim by a Japanese nutritionist may have men in Japan eating more curry than they already do. So what is it about curry that has so many men in Japan suddenly full of hope?

Of course there's ramen, sushi, yakitori, and tonkatsu in Japan, but another dish that everyone seems to eat in the Land of the Rising Sun is curry. Growing up, my mom's curry was one of my favorite dinners. Brands of curry are advertised on television, and every supermarket in Japan has shelves dedicated to a variety of instant curries. Besides the mouth-watering flavor of curry, the convenience of making it, and all the options that exist for its healthy ingredients, there is now another reason to cook up some of the popular spicy grub. Just recently, a Japanese researcher claimed that curry can prevent male baldness! According to a major Japanese wig maker, Japan ranks 14th in the world in the percent of bald men in the population, and India, another curry-eating nation, didn't even make the top 20. The United States, on the other hand, has double the amount of male baldness that Japan does.

And this, says Japanese nutrition expert Yoshiko Nakagawa, is because of curry. The ingredients in curry are turmeric, saffron, nutmeg, and capsaicin, which benefit the body's metabolism and circulation, and promote hair growth. But like any results of a "scientific" study, there are many skeptics. As one commenter wrote online, "I'm not convinced. I've seen many bald Japanese and Indian people!"

Only time will tell. But many men in Japan will no doubt be eating more curry.